The construction of an earring clasp should allow for the fact that some wearers have pierced ears, and some do not. It is common practice to provide a clamping member pivoted to a platform in such a way as to clamp the lobe of the ear gently between them. Even when a post is provided for engaging a pierced ear lobe, a retainer of some sort must be present to hold the ear lobe in engagement with the post. This leaves the projected end of the post in a position to poke into the neck of the wearer, which can be painful in the event of accidental contact of the ear against something solid and unyielding. Some post-type earring clasps are provided with a form of cap to be fitted over the end of the post on the inside of the ear lobe, but such an arrangement invites the misplacement of the tiny cap, and requires some degree of skillful manipulation. An arrangement of this type is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,311 (FIG. 2). This patent shows a removable post for accommodating use as a purely clamp-type system, which involves a multiplicity of small and easily misplaced components.